


Jigging

by wavewright62



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon, Saimaa dreaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 04:43:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10891944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wavewright62/pseuds/wavewright62
Summary: Two people go ice fishing on Lake Saimaa.  They say nothing the whole time.  This speaks volumes.This serves as my contribution for the letter J for the SSSS Alphabet Soup challenge.





	Jigging

In the stillness of the dawn, Ensi sat at the hole in the ice, gently pulling on the jig to make it enticing for the fish. This was her second hole of the morning, and it was as disappointing as the first one closer to the shore. She wasn't in that much of a hurry to move on, though; she knew the perch were here.

It was also good to be out of the house. It was a fairly small cottage, made smaller when her son Juha and his wife Anne-Mari had little Onni, even though the doctors had said it was unlikely Anne-Mari would ever have children. She'd lost a few babies since Onni, though, and Ensi could sense that faint spirit echo around Anne-Mari that indicated she was pregnant again. Maybe the gods would allow them to keep this gift; maybe not. Onni was showing signs of decent magical ability, at least, and soon would be old enough to take some instruction.

Jukka was another story. Although he was a fairly cheerful person like his twin Juha, much like Ensi herself, Jukka was happiest when he was in the forest and really wasn't comfortable around many other people. However, lately he had become agitated and was hanging around the village more. Juha had confided that Jukka was infatuated with a girl who had just come to their village, one of a group of refugees fleeing from an outbreak of the Rash on their island. When Ensi asked him about it, Jukka replied that he wanted to marry this Tuulikki, but Ensi had her doubts whether this sudden passion of his for a girl he didn't really know would soon ebb, and had talked him out of it.

She was interrupted in her reverie when another person carrying a fishing rod walked onto the frozen lake, walking slowly with their head down, watching the ice. They were dressed as a hunter, with hood and cape designed for blending into the forest, not the pale blue expanse of the frozen lake. Well, I can't move _now_ , Ensi thought, they'll think it's because of them. She danced her jig in the hole some more, while the person continued to pace slowly around the ice. One pace, then stopping, then a turn and another pace and another stop, then two paces and another stop. Then one more pace and the person took out their ice drill and set to work making a hole.

The person was only three meters away from Ensi by this time, which she found both annoying and intriguing. "Oi, you'll scare away the fish," she muttered.

The person turned then to look at Ensi, who recognised her as Tuulikki, the person she'd just been thinking about. Tuulikki gave Ensi a level gaze with cool blue eyes before inclining her head, but continued drilling without saying a word. She then sat down and lowered her own jig into the hole, then lightly raised and lowered it a few times to entice the perch. Ensi frowned and danced her own jig as well.

Only a minute passed before Tuulikki pulled up a perch. She swiftly disengaged the hook and lowered the jig again, then dispatched the fish on the ice. She'd just wiped her puukko when the line danced again, and she pulled up a second fish. Within a few more minutes, a third perch joined the first two on the ice.

Ensi got up stiffly (suddenly feeling very old indeed) and went looking for a new hole to drill. Tuulikki watched her for a moment, then wordlessly pointed at a spot about a meter further out on the lake from the hole she'd been working. She then turned her attention to her own dancing jig line, to set the hook once again. Ensi swallowed her pride and drilled at the spot Tuulikki had pointed out.

Within ten minutes Ensi had three beautiful perch on the ice beside her, which she decided was quite enough for their dinner. She packed up her gear and headed back to the village, and Tuulikki with her eight perch fell into step with her. Ensi frowned, thinking Tuulikki was obviously showboating a bit, and possibly even having a deliberate dig at Ensi. Tuulikki had also pushed back her hood, showing off her impeccable blonde hair, sparkling in the sun. Ensi told herself sternly that jealousy was to be avoided at all costs, lest she become a kade.

In silence they trudged up the slope from the waterside back to the village, but along the way Tuulikki stopped at a few small huts and gave each of them a fish or two. By the time Ensi reached her own cottage, Tuulikki was only carrying one fish. They both stopped, and inclined their heads at one another. Ensi gave a small wave and turned onto her pathway. Tuulikki gave a small smile, then averted her eyes and turned to go.

Inside, little Onni ran up to admire the perch, running his chubby hands along the scales. Anne-Mari followed behind, as did Jukka, and the three of them set to cleaning the fish, with Onni getting underfoot in his curiosity to see what was going on. Ensi said casually, "Jukka, you seem anxious."

He swallowed hard and avoided her gaze. "These are very nice fish. You went fishing with… with Tuulikki?" He said her name with a hushed reverence.

"Yes," Ensi deftly filleted her perch, "so, when are you two getting married already?"


End file.
